Day 4 of 10

What a difference a day makes. I slept in until 5:30 am, instead of my usual 4:30 am, and then went on a walk in the rain. My energy level felt pretty good, given I have only had a couple glasses of juice and detox shakes, the last three days. When I say shake, what I really mean is, a bland tasting, bentonite clay drink, with psyllium husk, little bit coconut water and an even smaller amount of juice. Bentonite clay is a naturally-occurring, microscopic volcanic ash. It generates and maintains a very strong electromagnetic field, which allows it to attract and hold unwanted, toxic substances, so they can be eliminated out of our bodies, via an enema while detoxing. Psyllium husk is a natural, water-soluble, gel-producing fiber which is extracted from the husks of psllyium seeds. It encourages optimal colon functioning and helps get the gunk out too! We drink 4-5 of those a day and then end the day with broth. Some people LOVE broth, and sip down two bowls, I am not one of those people. Just the smell of broth makes me cringe. Lola, my host, gives me juice instead. I love Lola.

Broth with limes in it.

Left is detox shake with bentonite clay,
and the small jar is the psyllium husk. Put together, shake, and drink.

My enemas haven't been as amazing as my first two detoxes. Usually I get a lot coming out, but the last two enemas, I'm getting nothing but water. This is discouraging. For those of you who don't know how it works, let me explain. We drink the shakes, it pulls toxins from our intestinal wall, and then we do an enema to get it all out, morning and night. The enema bag has a long tube that you stick up your b-hole, and let the water go inside you. You don't have to do the entire bag at once, just what you can hold. This morning I did a bag and a half, 1/2 bag over three attempts. I did handstands, jumping jacks, massaged my large intestine, and nothing. Georgia, my other host, said that it could be stress. The muscles in my body aren't letting them go, because I'm holding onto a lot of stress. I blame Trump. Effing A-hole.

The day started with yoga together as a group. There is a new yoga instructor here and I want to take her home with me. She is amaaaazing! The last two sessions, I started the class feeling super hungry, but had forgotten that hunger by the end. It's the perfect amount of challenge and relaxation.

Yoga Class

After yoga, we had our nutrition class. We covered macro nutrients.  Protein, carbs, and fats. A few things about each that I think you should know too.

PROTEIN

1. The faster the animal, the easier to digest. Think fish, chicken, but cows, not so much.
2. You should have 1 gram protein per 1 kilo of body weight a day.  I weigh about 64 kilos (140lbs), so 64 grams of protein a day is healthy for me.
3. Complete proteins are from animals, and contain all the amino acids we need, but meat is also acidic, so two days a week, eat vegetarian.
4. Incomplete proteins include; grain, tofu, nuts, seeds, legumes, vegetables, cheese, and yogurt (preferably unsweetened). With incomplete proteins, to get all the amino acids essential to your body, you need to eat them throughout the day, or combine two more more in one sitting.

CARBS

1. Simple Carbs, such as white bread, white pasta, white rice, sweets, crackers, chips, etc., try and avoid. These should not be eaten in large amounts because they cause a rapid rise followed by a rapid drop in blood sugar levels. When blood sugar drops, fatigue, hunger, headaches, irritability, and sugar cravings occur. Aka, HANGRY!
2. Complex Carbs, such as whole grains, (brown rice, quinoa, buckwheat, corn, jasmine rice, etc,), legumes, beans, peas, soy produce and root vegetables, etc., are better. They increase fiber, decrease blood cholesterol, stabilize blood sugars, regulate your poo, decrease appetite, and help with your energy levels.

FATS

1. Fat doesn't make you fat. You need fat to burn fat.
2. Healthy fats; avocados, coconut oil, butter, Ghee, extra virgin olive oil, etc.  
3. Unhealthy fats; margarine, or any hydrogenated oils. 
4. Don't listen to the dairy industry. Non-fat dairy, low fat, skim, are NOT healthier choices. The process of reducing the fat strips important nutrients, such as calcium and protein. Most times the fat is replaced with sugar making it completely devoid of healthy nutrition.

My day ended with an amazing session with Lola. We discussed things that I have forgotten about with concerns to self-care. Running two stores, and the second store being it's first year in 2016, made last year a very busy, hard, and stressful year. I haven't been doing the things I really enjoy, or taking time-outs for me. I stopped gardening, making map art, studying Spanish, dancing, or just hiking. I didn't climb one mountain last year in Skagway. NOT ONE! And since I left in October, the busy hasn't subsided. Work, travel for work, and yes, getaways, but I'm still going, going, going! My word for 2017 is MOVE, but here, Lola says it's STOP & BE STILL. That is near to impossible for me. I get bored, antsy, let's go, let's move, hurry up, move along. But I am working on it. We made a lovely plan of prioritizing myself instead of work this spring. Training for a half marathon, delegating more, daily affirmations, letting go of fear (writing letters to it and burning the letters), taking the time to cook for the week. SELF-CARE: It's so much more important than working that one extra hour. And once you make it a priority, everything else seems to be less stressful.

I'll leave you with a few pictures of my walk yesterday. Of course, if you want to see others, you can go to my Instagram account.

Rice Paddy Walk

Ducks in a row.

Chilled out cow that was chewing on grass for hours.